Chicago counts for nine of the top ten messy airline routes in the U.S. Colorado has two. (Graphic via WSJ)
Where are the nation’s biggest air travel trouble spots? The a neat little searchable widget to answer that question. And, as it turns out, and Colorado has two in the top ten.
Using data from the U.S. Department of Transportation and on-time data from airlines, in the U.S. for 2014.
WSJ’s searchable widget allows travelers to check their travel route.
Nine out of top 10 have a connection to Chicago O’Hare. At the top of the heap is the Chicago to Knoxville, Tenn. route, which is delayed, diverted or cancelled a whopping 44.1 percent of the time.
The popular Denver-to-Aspen route, however, ranks third worst, with a 43.1 percent delay rate, and Chicago to Colorado Springs comes in at eighth at 42.6 percent.
Although the collects on-time performance data, this is the first time such a comprehensive look by route is available. WSJ made a special request to the BTS for the data to be compiled by route.
The data does not break the delays down by airline, however, airline on-time data is .
In 2014, the top-three delayed airlines nationwide were Southwest — Denver International Airport’s (DIA) second-largest carrier — with a 26.5 percent delay rate, Express Jet at 29.2 percent and Envoy at 31.2, according to the DOT. The most punctual airlines were Hawaiian Air with a mere 8.1 percent delay rate, Alaska Airlines at 13.8 percent and Delta at 16.3 percent, per the DOT.
DIA’s biggest carrier, United Airlines, had a 24 percent delay rate in 2014. Denver-based Frontier, DIA’s third-largest, came in at 25.9 percent.
‘s 2014 on-time rate was in line with the national rate, per BTS statistics. Flights in and out of Denver were delayed 23.52 percent of the time. The 2014 national airline delay rate was 23.75. Reasons for the delays include weather, airline issues and other reasons.
The WSJ widget .
Denver International Airport’s 2014 on-time rate was 76.48 percent. Nationwide, the rate was 76.25 percent, per the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. (screenshot: transtats.bts.gov)
